Disclaimer: I'm not J.K.R and I never will be.

This chapter earns the M rating easily toward the end, so if that bothers you, you might want to skip ahead. You've been warned.

000

Draco once again didn't know what to expect as he entered the restaurant with the three Grangers. He could tell immediately that it was very posh. He did feel comfortable at least. Culture and expensive things were things he was familiar with.

He looked at Hermione and noticed that she looked very uncomfortable. Whereas Draco was completely at ease in this place and in these clothes, Hermione looked unsure of how to hold herself. She was fidgeting with her hands and straightening her dress, trying to get it to cover as much of her skin as it could.

A thought struck Draco and it made him contract his eyebrows in doubt. Was it possible she didn't know how beautiful she was?

Maybe she didn't…Draco had certainly never told her and he doubted that Weasley or Potter ever had either.

The two of them were standing behind her parents, waiting to be seated. He moved closer to her and said, "Stop fidgeting, Granger." He took her hand and pulled it through his arm. They could at least appear as if they belonged there.

Hermione started to pull her hand away but Draco caught it. When she didn't try again Draco smiled. He looked her, wondering if she would be smiling like he was, but she wasn't. She looked pained. Then she turned to him suddenly and looked hard into his eyes.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked quietly.

"Why am I doing what?" He asked.

"This. Holding my hand, talking to me. Smiling at me. Being nice to me. Pretending you don't hate me. Why?"

Wow. She had just said it. Why was he doing all those things? He didn't even know. Well, he did know. But he wouldn't let that thought anywhere near a place he would entertain it.

That's a good question…

Draco dropped her hand and looked away. Once again he'd forgotten who he was. His mother's voice echoed in his ears when he saw that Hermione's hand had clenched up as soon as he'd let go of it, as though he'd been a leper.

I can't save you, Draco. You have to save yourself.

-

He didn't have the right to touch her like that, to hold her hand. Why was he putting her through this? He hated her. He'd made that very clear with every word and look he'd ever given her. And she could live with that. She could stand him hating her. But it became too much when he tried to pretend he didn't. She didn't know why he was doing it, but it was wrong.

It was even worse that he had no idea what he was doing to her. She wished he would just go back to ignoring or glaring at her. It would make it a lot easier to do the same. But every false smile he gave her made her flinch inwardly.

Why was this happening? Why couldn't she just look at him and see what she'd always seen- a spoiled, selfish, bigoted bastard?

But no, she had to walk in on him when she wasn't supposed to.

What was so goddamned special about a piano anyway? Lots of people played the piano. Hell, Hermione played the piano.

But not like that…

But this thought brought an even more terrible one to her attention. Something as simple as Draco playing the piano couldn't possibly have been enough to hit her with this. Was it possible she'd had this in her for a long time, unwilling or unable to face it?

She clenched her hand hard as soon as he let go of it. She'd have given almost anything at that moment to run away and never look back.

But then the host ushered them forward and Hermione was forced to leave that hope behind. This was not Hermione. The real Hermione Granger would never lose her focus over a guy. If she could handle being shot she could handle whatever Draco Malfoy did to her.

A resolve to be strong washed over her and she straightened herself up. She stopped shaking and walked forward, her head held high. She wore a poised smile as she sat down gracefully in her chair. She folded her napkin and stared forward again.

She could feel Draco looking at her again. She could feel his surprise. He thought with satisfaction that he probably expected her to have sense etiquette. It would be at least a little bit of fun to wipe the smug smirk from his face.

You're not the only one with expensive manners, Mr. Malfoy.

-

Very suddenly, Hermione had composed herself. For some reason she found the moment and stopped fidgeting. She walked forward and sat down at their table with a lightness he didn't know she possessed. Draco tried not to think about the fact that this change had coincided with him letting go of her hand.

He sat down opposite her, next to her mother.

He looked at Hermione then looked away again when he was handed a menu.

Not bad…

The waitress wasn't bad for a muggle either…nothing on Hermione, but-

Snap out of it Draco!

He didn't know why he did it, other than that he had a sense it would piss Hermione off, but as the waitress leaned in to point at something on the menu, he leaned back and gave her a sexy wink. She grinned back at him and proceeded to take their orders.

He didn't even look at Hermione to see if she'd seen the exchange. He knew it would bug her more that way.

"So, Draco." John Granger said from across the table.

"Yes sir." Draco answered nonchalantly.

"Where were you raised?" He asked. Draco had a feeling he was about to answer a lot of questions.

"Wiltshire." He answered promptly.

"Smashing."

Draco nodded.

And then Jane chimed in. "And what do you like to do with yourself?"

Draco resisted he urge to raise his eyebrows. He wondered if she realized the implications of her question. He decided she didn't. "You mean, what am I interested in?"

"Yes, that's what I mean."

"I play Quidditch." Draco answered.

"Oh yes. Hermione's told us about that. It's the game on brooms."

Draco smiled. They really were trying.

"Are you good at Quidditch?" John asked.

"I'm not bad." Draco answered confidently. He found the need to assure them of his worth in anyway he could, irrational as it was. He figured that Hermione had told them just how wonderful Saint Potter was on a broomstick.

"And what else?" Asked John.

Draco did raise his eyebrows this time.

"We really don't know much about you, other than what you did for our daughter." Said Jane, smiling at him fondly.

"Well you'd have to ask her for details Mrs. Granger." He said. "I really wouldn't know where to start."

He was pawning off rights to the conversation to Hermione, unwilling to divulge more about himself. Plus, it would be fun to see Hermione struggle with what to say and not say about him, not to mention enlightening.

He could tell that John Granger knew exactly what was going on, but he played along. It was a guy thing.

"Hermione," Her father said, turning his head toward her. "How do you feel about Draco?"

Hermione choked into her water. Interesting…

"What?" She said in a hoarse voice.

"Is Draco as good with his broomstick as he boasts?" Her mother said.

Hermione looked momentarily horrified. Draco bit his lip and hid his chuckle behind his hand then looked at Hermione expectantly.

She stared at her mother for a long moment then said, "Can we change the subject?"

"Oh." Her mother said surprised. Apparently she could think of no conceivable reason why Hermione would not want to discuss Draco's proficiency with his 'broomstick.'

Draco looked at John Granger who had his head bent down low and was scratching his eyebrow. Draco had the strong feeling that Hermione's father was doing his very best not to laugh.

Hermione looked around at everyone at the table, wide-eyed. Draco winked at her and she stood up suddenly.

"May I be excused, daddy?" She asked in a high voice.

John cleared his throat carefully before speaking. "Of course you may, dear." He stood up politely, helping Hermione move from her chair.

Hermione almost sprinted to the ladies room.

The moment she was out of sight and earshot both Draco and John Granger burst out laughing. Draco more so than John. He hadn't laughed this hard in a long, long time. After a minute or so he wiped actual tears from his eyes as the waitress brought their food to the table.

"What's so funny?" Jane asked, bewildered.

The waitress looked questioningly at Hermione's empty seat and her mother said she'd be back shortly.

And with that Draco looked at his food with longing. He was surprisingly hungry. He wished Hermione would hurry back so he could start eating.

-

Hermione got to the bathroom as quickly as she could and closed and locked the door behind her. She leaned over the counter to look in the mirror. Her breathing was hurried and her face was flushed.

That was an ambush. That's what it was… She knew her mother hadn't purposely cornered her, but her father and Draco were right snipes. Her mother's seemingly innocent question had reminded her once again of her attraction to Draco.

As much as she hated to admit it, Draco was simply a work of art, physically. Let's keep that straight.

Ginny Weasley had never hated Draco with the passion that Hermione had. Ginny had insisted for years that had Draco not been such a bastard she wouldn't have hesitated for a moment to "jump his bones."

Hermione was beginning to see it from Ginny's point of view. The hair, and the eyes…oh God the eyes. They were so grey she felt like he could literally pierce her every time she looked into them. Draco had stopped slicking his hair back after their fifth year. Now he wore it so that it fell straight over his forehead. He'd taken to sweeping off his eyes casually with a finger. Every time he did it every single girl in a twenty foot radius shivered.

Every girl except Hermione. She usually just rolled her eyes at how shallow teenage girls could be. But as she looked in the mirror an image of him brushing his blond hair off his forehead and winking flashed in her mind and she groaned.

Get a hold of yourself, Hermione. He's hot, get over it.

She knew if she waited in the bathroom much longer it would look suspicious, so she gave herself a stern look and marched back to the table resolutely. She'd be ready for whatever was thrown at her this time. And if he did the hair thing…

No Hermione!

-

Hermione sat down and looked Draco right in the eyes. Her stare said clearly, "I dare you."

She began eating her food and everyone else followed suit.

The conversation drifted from what was going on at work to the weather to Hermione and Draco's Head positions.

Draco was polite, even charming. When they were finished eating Hermione's father asked her mother to dance and they swept away from the table leaving Draco and Hermione in uncomfortable silence.

Draco glanced at Hermione, who was staring at the couples on the dance floor with a vacant expression on her face. Draco made a quick decision. This was just too great an opportunity to pass up.

He got up quickly from the table, startling Hermione. He strolled purposefully around to her side of the table and took her hand.

"Come on, Granger."

"Malfoy, what are you-?"

"We're going to dance." He didn't know if she knew how to dance well, but he knew he was a strong partner. He could lead her easily.

She looked too flustered to fight him. When they reached the middle of the dance floor, he put his right hand firmly on her back and pulled her up against him. Her body was rigid and she wasn't breathing.

"Oh come off it, Granger. I'm not that repulsive."

He felt her relax a little, though she still looked taken aback. She pulled back her head and looked into his eyes with a hard expression. He wondered what she was thinking. But then the band started playing and he began to move them around in a slow circle.

Hermione was still uncomfortable but after a minute or so of him leaning in to her, she relaxed slowly. Her body was soft against his. She felt wonderful. His pressed his hand on her lower back a little harder and leaned his head down so that his mouth was close to her neck.

Hermione let out a shaky sigh and he knew he had her.

"Admit it Granger." He whispered into her ear. "You want me. You want me to do the things you've heard I can do."

She didn't say anything or react at all, so he continued. This was too much fun. She couldn't run away, he was holding her tight. Her parents were very close to them so she couldn't tell him to bugger off or slap him. He could say whatever he wanted to her. He could make her angry and she couldn't do anything about it.

"You want me to come to you in the night and taste you, everywhere." Her breath caught in her chest and he grinned. Really, this was too much fun.

"You want me to touch you, everywhere." He moved his hand a little lower on her back and she tried to pull away.

"No Granger, I want to enjoy this. You're going to remember this. How it felt to have your body against mine. How it felt to have your lips this close to mine, my breath on your skin." At this he blew softly on the nape of her neck.

"Stop it, Malfoy." Hermione hissed. She jerked away angrily. He chuckled until he saw the look on her face. She looked absolutely miserable.

"Jesus, Granger." He said, shocked by the way she was taking this. He'd wanted to get under her skin, not send her completely over the edge.

"Damn you, Malfoy." She whispered.

She was being ridiculous, he'd only been joking.

"What is your problem Granger?" He said heatedly.

"You are my problem!" She retorted fiercely

"I didn't do anything to you!" He responded indignantly. He threw his hands into the air.

"You have no idea what you've done to me."

And with that she walked away, leaving him to stand there in shock.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

-

Hermione ran out the side door to the restaurant as fast she could then fell back against the brick wall. She put her hands over her face and tried to gain control of herself. Her heart was racing in her body was shaking. As Draco had said those things to her, she'd been mortified.

She remembered back on the train when he'd said something like that. It had been easy to shove it back in face then. But now, it wasn't fair for him to play with her like that. It made it even worse that it was a joke.

She had felt so electric in his arms. She would have been okay with it. She would have been fine to just dance with him. But then he had to push it further.

Just as she was feeling nauseous the door burst open next to her and Draco came out in a storm. She stood up straight and backed away recklessly.

"Stay away from me Malfoy!" She yelled.

He advanced her with a furious look on his face. "No, Granger. I'm not leaving you alone until you tell me what the fuck is going on."

"Nothing is going on!" She was almost hysterical.

"Then why did you just run out on me like I'd bitten you?" He asked angrily.

"Just leave me alone!"

"No!" He yelled, moving closer.

She was backed up against the wall now. He had her cornered. Hermione didn't know what she was going to do.

"Please Malfoy. You have to stop this. Stop pretending."

"What are you talking about?" He asked confusedly.

Hermione bit her lip. "You touch me, you talk to me, you wink at me. But you hate me."

"What do you care, Granger?" He snarled. "You hate me too!"

Hermione wished so much that it was true.

She closed her eyes tightly, hoping that when she opened them he'd be gone, that she'd wake up in her own bed far from here and far from him, far from this feeling.

But when she opened them he was even closer. She could feel it happening and she didn't think she could take it. He stared hard at her with a fire in his eyes and then his lips were on hers.

All her strength left her as he wrapped his arms so tight around her she couldn't breathe. But she didn't need to breathe, she just needed to touch him.

Every emotion she'd ever felt toward him, the anger, the hate, the confusion, the desire, it all felt like a fire inside her as she open her mouth and he thrust his tongue in and moaned. She whimpered into his mouth and he pushed his body up against hers as hard as he could. It would have almost hurt if she hadn't been doing the same.

She wove her fingers through his hair and kissed him as fiercely as she knew how. And he did the same.

Oh God…

She was gone. She was totally at his mercy.

"God almighty, Granger." He groaned against her mouth. "Do you have any idea what you do to me?"

She had a pretty good idea…

"I'm so hard..." He moaned painfully. And she gasped. She hadn't even noticed. She looked down and she could see it, even in the dark. And she could feel it, against her lower abdomen.

He pulled her head up with his chin and kissed her again. This time a little more slowly, though still with the same ferocity. She felt his hands travel down to her lower back and he spoke again.

"I want to take you right here, Granger."

She had no idea how he could form a complete sentence, she was having trouble stringing a single thought to another. She felt a heat burning between her legs that she'd never felt before. She moved closer up against his leg to ease some of the tension. She just wanted to be closer.

This was so wrong. She knew she'd regret letting him touch her. But she couldn't stop. Just as his hands were slipping inside her dress from behind, the decision was taken out of her hands.

"Hermione?" Her mother's voice called from inside the restaurant. She pushed Draco away from her hard. They met eyes for an instant then Hermione straightened herself and walked back through the door she'd come out of.

Only a few seconds later her sense returned to her and she realized what she'd almost let happen. This was bad.

She'd forgotten for a moment that he was pretending. She'd let him use her. She choked back the tears that threatened to spill and sat back down at the table. If her mother and father noticed anything, they didn't mention it. Though they were so wrapped up in each other at the moment, she doubted they would have noticed if she'd thrown something at them. She was very glad that her parents loved each other. It made things much easier.

-

Hermione had left Draco in the alley with a throbbing erection more confusion than he'd ever felt. One moment he'd been shouting at her and the next he'd almost come in his trousers. She hadn't even touched his penis and he was so close it would only have taken one motion to send him over the edge.

This was a first. Normally Draco could last hours before he'd have an orgasm, but just the feel of Hermione's body against his had thrown his control out the window.

He was so hard it was painful to move. He quickly reached inside his trousers to finish what Hermione's tongue in his mouth had started. It only took three quick strokes and he exploded with a force that sent him stumbling back against the wall.

His legs buckled and he groaned loudly.

If this ever happened again, God help him…

000

I wanted to sort of spring that on you. God knows you've all waited patiently…lol I hope it was a pleasant surprise. I wanted to get that in before the story before the mystery plot starts to take over. It won't happen like that for a while again. I promise it will though. There's still so much more to come.

Thanks as always!